Star Wars: The Long Road Home
by MaverickSawyer
Summary: Following their disastrous defeats in the D'Qar and Crait systems, both the First Order and the Resistance take stock of their losses, lick their wounds, and formulate new plans. But the war for the future of the galaxy waits for no one, least of all the warriors on the front lines. This is their long road to victory. This is... The Long Road Home.
1. Prologue

Star Wars: The Long Road Home

 _Prologue_

 _Fighter Country_

 _Resistance command ship_ Raddus

 _90 minutes into D'Qar-Crait hyperspace jump_

Lieutenant Tallissan "Tallie" Lintra hated starship travel.

Make no mistake, the young pilot enjoyed being able to stretch out in her bunk in junior officer's quarters in Fighter Country and let the knot in her back unwind after a long jump to D'Qar and a massive furball shortly after arrival. The ability to take a much overdue shower certainly had its appeal, too. But as a snubfighter jockey, Tallie was distinctly uncomfortable when not able to control her path through space, especially on a large capital ship like an MC-85. Sure, most other fighter pilots joked about similar feelings, especially lately as the sheer scope of the First Order's massive fleet of capital ships became clear, but right now, Tallie couldn't shake the feeling that she was trapped.

Tallie let out a sigh and rolled out of her bunk. _Might as well go make sure that Blue's getting taken care of..._

 _-.-.-_

Tallie walked into the ready room and nodded politely to several other pilots sitting nearby. Most of them were transport pilots from the evac from D'Qar, but Tallie had nothing but respect for them. It took a special kind of courage to fly an unarmed, barely shielded tub through hostile fire and come aboard the _Raddus_ with vital supplies and personnel. Passing through the ready room and into the fighter wing's operations center, Tallie took in the latest data from the capital ship's databanks regarding their destination.

 _Crait_

 _Population: 0_

 _Major facilities: Abandoned Rebel outpost/ mineral mine_

 _Habitability: Minimal_

 _ETA: 0:17:22_

Tallie shrugged and continued to the locker rooms and began to don her flight gear. Roni and Tubbs were already suiting up down the aisle and nodded their greetings. As she changed into her flight suit, Tallie imagined how the Rebel Alliance pilots had probably felt during their long fight against the Empire under similar circumstances: Tired, worn down, unable to properly grieve their latest losses in combat, yet still gearing up to go fight the good fight again. She paused for a moment and ran her fingertips across and old-fashioned 2-D image she had tacked to her locker door. It was of her and her father, back home on Pippip 3. Tallie was only 12, but her father had enough faith in her and her flying skills to let her go fly solo in his old RZ-1 A-Wing he had converted to a crop duster. Tallie's flight had started out rough, but her father's advice over the comms had calmed her down and gotten her back in control.

 _"Don't fight the flow, Tallie. Listen to the ship. She speaks to you... follow her guidance."_

Tallie smiled and pulled her beloved synthsilk scarf from the locker and tucked it into place around her neck. "Thanks, Dad."

-.-.-

Tallie grabbed a ration bar from the ready room table as she walked out of the locker rooms. Roni was already out in the hangar, but Tubbs was waiting for her. Concern lined his face. "Boss, you doing okay?"

"Yeah, Tubbs. I'm all good. You?"

Tubbs looked down at his helmet in his hands, fixated on the names of his children stenciled on the visor cover. "I knew when I joined the Resistance, there was a better than even chance of me dying out there in the Black, but..." He gestured to the nearly empty hangar deck beyond the ready room doors. "This really puts it in perspective. We've lost a lot of good pilots, Tallie. Better than me, even."

Tallie took in the empty spots in the hangar bay and fought back her own worries and grief. _Time enough for that later._ "Tubbs, simply being good isn't enough for us. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and, by all rights, we should be outmatched. We need to be lucky, too." She reached up to her collar and rubbed her scarf between her fingers briefly.

Tubbs nodded somberly and ran his fingers across the names on his helmet. "Yeah... or have the Force on our side."

Tallie snorted. "The Force doesn't choose sides, Tubbs. It's just like water. It doesn't care what you use it for or who controls it... It just _is._ " She tucked the ration bar in her pocket and eyed the display one last time:

 _ETA: 0:04:31.9_

"C'mon, old man. We're gonna be busy here in a few minutes." Tallie tucked her helmet under her arm and jogged out into the hangar towards her fighter. "Can't kill TIEs in here!"

-.-.-

Tallie closed the canopy of her RZ-2 A-Wing and checked the seal before she started the fighter's powerful engines. As she did so, she felt more than heard or saw the _Raddus_ revert to realspace. She reached over and fired up the ship's reactors and felt the thrum of power through her compact fighter. Then, all hell started to break loose in the hangar as the battle stations alarms began to sound throughout the ship. Tallie toggled her comms. "What's going on?"

Pri-Fly called back, clearly panicked by the news they relayed: _"The First Order tracked us through hyperspace somehow."_

Tallie paused in her powerup sequence for a moment as the news sunk in. _Impossible. Nothing can be tracked in realtime through hyperspace._

"ATTENTION ALL FIGHTERS! SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE!"

Snapped out her daze by the fighter pilot's age-old call to action, Tallie rushed to finish her launch preparations and was about to lift off when a dark shape appeared in the launch tunnel and promptly fired two missiles into the crowded hangar bay before ducking out of the launch tunnel as quickly as it had appeared. "No... Not like this." She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come. A moment later, the hangar deck was filled with fire and shrapnel as Tubb's fighter took a direct hit from one of the missiles. Behind her, Roni's A-Wing also disintegrated into scrap and fire. Yet, somehow, she had been spared from immediate death, a gift she had no intention of wasting. Tallie watched her status displays light up with mostly green indicators and decided to risk launching anyways. She lifted off, tucked up the gear, and looked over her shoulder briefly at the hangar deck. _Black One,_ Poe Dameron's beloved X-Wing, was a flaming ruin, and secondary explosions were already beginning to set in around the hangar as fuel and munitions cooked off. Tallie knew that the longer she stayed in the hangar, the more likely she would be caught up in the growing firestorm, and even her trusty A-Wing would be hard pressed to protect her under these conditions. Yet, the space outside the hangar was just as dangerous, if not more so. Then, a memory of a recent report about events leading up to the attack on Starkiller Base came to mind... and Tallie jumped into hyperspace striaght out of the hangar, dragging much of the burning wreckage of the Resistance's fighter wing out into space with her.

-.-.-

 _1 light hour away_

Tallie's fighter reverted to realspace an eyeblink after having made her near-suicidal blind microjump from the _Raddus_ 's hangar deck, still sheathed in tendrils of trapped atmosphere and fire from her sudden and abrupt departure from the capital ship. The sudden acceleration to lightspeed and equally sudden reversion back to realspace left her dizzy and disoriented for a few vital seconds, but she quickly checked her sensor scopes to see what had happened to the rest of the Resistance fleet. What she saw was utterly terrifying.

The massive _Supremacy_ loomed over the entirety of the Resistance fleet, its immense 60 _kilometer_ wingspan making it larger than even the largest space station Tallie had ever seen. Following it were more than 30 _Imperial_ and _Resurgent_ -class Star Destroyers, far outclassing even the largest fleet that the New Republic could have fielded on the timeframe needed to combat such a threat, and absolute overkill for finishing off the Resistance fleet. Tallie didn't even have to do the math of how many starfighters were available to that massive force. Whatever the number was, it was far too many to take on, even with all of the scattered remains of the Resistance starfighter force behind her.

Toggling the recon sensor package in her A-Wing to passive mode, Tallie recorded all she could of the fleet that the First Order had brought to bear against the Resistance, then plotted a jump to a random point in deep space and disappeared into hyperspace once again.

-.-.-


	2. Chapter 1: Chains of Command

Chapter 1: Chains of Command

 _Approaching the wreck of the_ Supremacy _, Crait system_

 _1 hour after conclusion of The Last Jedi_

Hux stared across the passenger compartment of the _Upsilon_ -class Command Shuttle at Kylo Ren, carefully keeping his expression neutral as he recalled the events of the last few days. _The destruction of Starkiller Base, the loss of the_ Fulminatrix _, the devastating blow against the_ Supremacy _, the death of the Supreme Leader, and now this latest travesty... That unholy deception by that accursed Jedi, Skywalker._ Hux stood and proceeded to the flight deck of the shuttle, leaving Kylo Ren as he continued to stare at the floor, lost in who knew what.

As he arrived on the flight deck, Hux took in the steadily expanding debris field that had once been the flagship of the First Order and its attending fleet. Quadanium armor still burned its odd reddish molecular fire in the vacuum of space across the ruined hull of the _Finalizer_ , ignited by the furious spray of exotic particles spawned by the lightspeed ram that had crippled the _Supremacy_. Hux mourned the loss of his flagship, but the _Finalizer_ had gotten off fairly lightly. Other ships, like the _Adamant_ and the _Indomitable_ , had been completely shredded by the relativistic shrapnel cast off from the impact. Hux watched as an old _Imperial_ -class Star Destroyer tractored a fragment of the _Adamant_ 's reactor housingout of the debris field and proceeded to tow it towards the larger half of the _Supremacy,_ where it would be recycled into raw materials to repair the mighty flagship. Hux smiled at the sight. _That treacherous Resistance commander may have hurt the First Order, but they didn't do permanent or even crippling damage to us. We shall return stronger than ever... just like the_ Supremacy _._

Hux was dragged from his musings by one of the flight crew. "General... urgent message from the _Chimaera_."

"Very well, put it through."

"Sir, it's text only. They're requesting that we come aboard immediately to discuss the next steps for the First Order."

Hux furrowed his brows in confusion. "Text only? Most unusual. Reply and inform them we're on our way." He looked out the viewport again. "Where is the _Chimaera_ , anyways?"

As if summoned by Hux's question, a _Resurgent-_ class battlecruiser came into view, hangar bay open and several TIE/fo fighters launching to greet the shuttle. The flight officer, apparently oblivious to the view out the window, responded to Hux's now irrelevant question. "Just off our bow, a few kilometers out."

"I noticed. Let me know when we land." Hux went back into the passenger compartment and nervously addressed Kylo Ren. "Supreme Leader... We are diverting to the _Chimaera_ at the request of her commanding officer. He is hosting a conference to discuss the future of the First Order."

Kylo fixed Hux with an angry glare. "Why was I not advised of this?"

"I am advising you of it now, Supreme Leader. I just found out about it myself."

Kylo's face worked for several seconds as he took in the news. "Very well, General."

Hux waited for several seconds in case Kylo Ren had anything further to say, but the self-proclaimed Supreme Leader of the First Order returned to his silent musings. Taking the silence as his cue to leave, Hux returned to his seat and withdrew a personal datapad from his coat and began making notes for the upcoming meeting.

-.-.-

 _Command Bridge of the_ Chimaera

 _First Order Flagship/Fleet debris field_

Even in the middle of third shift, typically the quietest time on a First Order warship, the command bridge of a _Resurgent_ -class battlecruiser was a bustling hub of activity. During a crisis of the scale currently laid out before the _Chimaera_ , the bridge was a textbook example of organized chaos. Subalterns ran to and from the bridge, datapads of orders and reports tucked beneath their arms as they relayed vital information regarding the ongoing salvage and rescue operations surrounding the ship. However, at the front of the bridge, three figures stood staring out the window, icons of calm amidst the storm surrounding them.

The youngest of the three figures, a male Captain, let out an indignant snort at the sight. "Well, Hux certainly made a mess of his command again."

"Hush, Myn." The second figure on the opposite end of the trio smiled wryly. "You've made your fair share of mistakes in your career, too."

"I never had 12 capital ships get vaped in a single blow, Bria." Myn smiled back at his female counterpart as he started counting on his fingers. "That's on top of his loss of Starkiller Base, the _Fulminatrix_..."

"Enough." The central figure spoke, and the two Captains fell silent. "Hux's current track record is... problematic, to say the least. However, that is a concern that I can table for now. We have more pressing matters to deal with. Captain Caul."

Myn snapped to attention. "Yes, Admiral?"

"Take a detachment of Stormtroopers to the main hangar. Have them set their rifles to stun and await further orders."

"Sir." Myn saluted briefly and departed the bridge.

"Captain Halleck, I am afraid I must take my leave. I trust you can manage this... mess... on your own?"

Bria's smile was a mirror of her mentor's... cold, calculating, and stopping well before the eyes. "Yes, sir. I'll alert you if there is a true emergency."

"Very well. Carry on, Captain."

Bria saluted, then turned back to the scene laid out beyond the _Chimaera_ 's bridge windows.

-.-.-

Hux hated to admit it, but he was actually nervous about the upcoming meeting. He'd heard stories of the legendary commander of the _Chimaera_ , but had never learned of his name. Now, however, Hux was concerned he was walking into a trap. The odd text-only transmission, the sudden and unannounced conference... Hux didn't need the Force to know that something strange was about to go down.

The _Upsilon_ -class shuttle jostled slightly, and the door to the flight deck hissed open. "General, Supreme Leader, we have landed aboard the _Chimaera._ Hangar control said a welcoming party was on the way."

Hux nodded once and tucked his datapad away in his coat. "Well, let's go see what this meeting is all about, shall we?"

Kylo Ren blinked several times, as if roused from a trance. "Very well. Lead the way, General."

Hux swallowed nervously and headed to the ramp, then turned to check on Kylo. He was clearly disturbed by something, which only added to Hux's concerns regarding the meeting ahead. However, the odd look on his face disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared, and Hux turned back to the hangar beyond. A nearby turbolift disgorged a squad of Stormtroopers, followed by...

"Grand Admiral Thrawn?" Hux was stunned. Thrawn had been one of the First Order's earliest leaders, helping guide the remnants of the Empire to safety in the Unknown Regions. Rumors had been circulating for years about an argument between Thrawn and Snoke, but when asked about it, Snoke had dismissed them as merely rumors. But the fact that Thrawn had been assigned to the farthest reaches of the First Order's operations since the supposed argument had only fed the rumors. Now, he had appeared shortly after Snoke's surprising and untimely death.

"Welcome to the _Chimaera_ , General Hux. My apologies for the meager greeting party, but most of the ship's compliment is engaged in supporting the search and recovery operations in the debris field."

"I... completely understand, Grand Admiral. I'm just..."

"Surprised to see me so far from the fringes of First Order space?"

"Yes." Hux cringed inwardly at the accurate assessment by Thrawn.

"I suppose you have been somewhat busy lately, so I'll forgive you having missed the message."

"What message?"

Hux turned around to see Kylo Ren walk down the ramp, lightsaber in hand.

Thrawn smiled, and Hux felt his heart plummet. _That is most assuredly_ not _an 'I'm happy to see you' smile..._

"Ah, Kylo Ren. I'm glad you could come. We have much to discuss."

Kylo walked up to stand next to Hux, and was about to speak when Thrawn spoke again. "Shoot the traitor."

Before either Hux or Kylo Ren could react, the "Honor Guard" of Stormtroopers fired their rifles, and saw the electric blue rings of stun shots close in... and strike Kylo Ren. The younger man crumpled to the ground as Hux's jaw dropped. "Kylo Ren, a traitor?"

Thrawn walked over to Hux and looked down on the younger human. "Sedate and secure him in the High-Risk Brig, Cell 6. Make sure that the special containment measures are in place before he wakes up."

The squad leader saluted briefly before slinging the unconscious Kylo Ren over his shoulder and carrying him away.

Thrawn turned to Hux. "My apologies again for the... abruptness... of that, but I had to make sure he wouldn't escape. Now, please, come with me, General. There is much to discuss, and so very little time." Thrawn gestured to the waiting turbolift, and Hux, still dazed by the sudden events, numbly walked forwards, still wondering if he was walking into a trap.

-.-.-

 _Thrawn's personal office_

"General Hux, I believe you should take the opportunity to check your personal messages before we begin our conversation in earnest. It should be most illuminating."

Thrawn gestured to his desk, and Hux gingerly sat in Thrawn's chair. Hux plugged his code cylinder into a waiting receptacle in the desk, and a single message from Snoke's personal codes appeared, only a few hours old. In fact, from the time stamp, it had been sent mere seconds after Snoke's death. He opened it to find a single holo file, which promptly began to play on the desk's holoprojector. It was, of all people, Snoke, healthy and whole.

"Senior leaders of the First Order. If you are seeing this message, then a terrible tragedy has befallen the First Order: I have been murdered. Yes, I'm sure most of you will be confused by how I'm seemingly sending a message from beyond the grave. That is because I have recorded this message in advance, and it will be sent should my vital signs cut off suddenly. So, therefore, I am very clearly dead, and the First Order now has a serious problem on its hands... Who shall replace me, Supreme Leader Snoke, as the leader of the First Order?" Snoke's image started walking around the Throne Room aboard the _Supremacy_. "I'm sure that most, if not all, of you are aware of the chaos that gripped the Empire following Palpatine's death at the hands of his apprentice some 30 years ago. Despite his best efforts, Palpatine's plans for his demise weren't nearly as successful as he had projected. The complexity of his Contingency saw to that. I intend to rectify that." Snoke stopped his pacing and looked straight at Hux. "I hereby designate Grand Admiral Thrawn as my successor as Supreme Leader of the First Order. All personnel are to obey him as you have obeyed me. There will be no debating this, no arguing over who gets the throne. Thrawn _will_ take over for me. I'm certain that, should he be alive at the time of my death, Kylo Ren will attempt to take the title of Supreme Leader for himself. He is young, foolish, and drunk on his own power." Snoke paused for a moment, seemingly gathering himself. "He must _not_ be allowed to lead the First Order."

Hux paused the file and looked at Thrawn, shock written across his face. "So that's why you stunned him."

Thrawn slowly shook his head. "No, that was for a different reason, one I assure you we shall be discussing shortly. For now, continue watching the file. There is important information still to be seen, General."

Hux resumed the playback, allowing Snoke's final orders to be laid out. "Kylo would lead the First Order down a path towards its own destruction. Therefore, take whatever means are necessary to contain him until he can be reasoned with. He is _not_ to be killed, however. He will be a valuable tool for Thrawn in the months to come." Snoke resumed his pacing of the Throne Room. "Finally, I have one final order: you must find my murderer, as well as those who helped them, and execute them promptly, publicly, and gruesomely. _Make an example of them._ Make it clear that such acts are not allowable." Snoke returned to his throne and sat down, staring into the recorder. "Go forth, Generals and Admirals. You have your orders."

As the recording cut out, Hux turned back to Thrawn. "Great. Snoke's murderer..."

Thrawn held out his hand, and Hux fell silent. "Snoke's murderer is currently in the brig, sedated and under guard."

Hux's heart sank. _"Ren?!_ Kylo Ren killed the Supreme Leader?!"

"From your reaction, I assume he blamed the girl Rey." Thrawn turned to a cabinet nearby and withdrew a crystal snifter and a bottle of liquor. "Unsurprising, but also deeply troublesome. It places two of Snoke's final orders in direct conflict." Thrawn poured Hux a glass of the liquor and handed it to him. "Alderaanian Brandy. One of the last bottles of it exported offworld before the planet was destroyed."

Hux accepted the glass and took a sip. "So, what's the next step, then?"

Thrawn tucked the bottle away in the cabinet and turned to face Hux. "Simple. We go along with young Mr. Solo's claims."

Hux, already shaken by the revelations of the day, had to wrap both hands around the snifter to keep from dropping it. "Solo?"

Thrawn smiled. "Ah, you were not aware of Kylo Ren's true name and parentage?"

"No."

"Again, unsurprising. The fact that he was the child of Han Solo and Leia Organa would certainly be troublesome for him if it got out, would it not?"

"I... suppose it would, yes." Hux took another sip of the brandy.

"Snoke was correct, however. Young Mr. Solo remains a valuable asset for the First Order. A weapon of terror, just like the _Supremacy_ or Starkiller Base, waiting to be unleashed against enemies who would not normally waver before a Star Destroyer." Thrawn's smile faded as quickly as it had appeared. "However, he is a liability at the moment."

"He's Force sensitive. You can't possibly hope to keep him locked up in the brig for long."

"The Force is not as powerful as its wielders would have you think, General. If you take it from them, they become as weak as any regular being."

Hux perked up at the notion of being able to strip someone of their Force powers. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"It is not a proposal, General. It is reality. When Ben Solo wakes, he will find himself inside of a bubble cast by the ysalimiri from the planet Myrkr. Inside that bubble, he will find himself unable to exert any influence on the Force."

"Fascinating. If we could find a way to bring this power to the field..."

"That is a discussion for another day, General. For now, we have to focus on, pardon the pun, but... damage control."

Hux smirked at the Grand Admiral's comment. "Damage control indeed." Hux took another, longer sip of the brandy.

"On that note, I want you to oversee the repairs to the _Supremacy._ I can't think of anyone more qualified for the job."

Again, Hux held on tight to the snifter to keep from dropping it. "Me? Surely you would prefer me out on the front line, pursuing the Resistance."

"Mmmm, I think not. You have been in command of two of the First Order's most powerful weapons systems, and they were destroyed and crippled, respectively. However, your oversight of the creation of Starkiller Base during the engineering and testing phases was exemplary."

Hux hung his head. "My apologies, Supreme Leader. Such failures will not happen again."

"Indeed they shall not. Your recent defeats will no doubt drive you to make sure that they are not repeated. That is a major factor in why I am choosing you to oversee the repairs to _Supremacy_. Under your skilled and motivated leadership, I have no doubt that the ship will be back in fighting form in record time." Thrawn clapped Hux on the shoulder. "I think you've had enough shocks for the day, General. I-"

Thrawn was cut off by the "call incoming" tone from his desk. "Yes, Captain?"

 _"Sir, urgent message from the_ Supremacy _. They say they've found the_ Falcon _'s destination."_

"Are they sure?"

 _"Not 100%, no, but the probability matrix is giving 91.1% confidence that they went to the Hoth system."_

Hux was elated by the news, but Thrawn seemed displeased by the report. "What's wrong, sir?"

"That's too obvious. General Organa wouldn't be so foolish as to run to a known Rebellion-era location, let alone one as well-known as Echo Base." Thrawn's gaze grew distant for a moment. "Tell me, Captain, did they take into account the possibility of the _Falcon_ executing a blind reversion in deep space?"

 _"Way ahead of you, sir. I asked them the same thing when they called, and surprise surprise, they didn't. They're running the calculation again now with that factor included."_

"Excellent work. Keep me posted."

 _"Will do, sir. Bria out."_

Thrawn frowned for a moment before turning to Hux. "General, I'm afraid that the pursuit of the Resistance will have to wait for now. We must rebuild what we can, and salvage what we can't."

"Understood, Supreme Leader."

"Please, General, you can drop the formality when we're behind closed doors like this. One leader to another."

"Yes, sir."

Thrawn smirked. "Well, I guess that's something we'll have to work on. Dismissed."

Hux threw back the last of the brandy and let out a long breath as it went down. "Whoo. One last thing... any word on the _Finalizer_ 's status?"

"I have yet to hear a definitive answer from the engineering teams, but your quarters have survived largely unscathed. I'm afraid Captains Peavey and Opan were killed when the command bridge was destroyed by the particle burst, however. You have my sympathies, General."

Hux nodded slowly. _Time to find another person to handle my dirty work... again._ "Much appreciated, sir." He saluted, waited until Thrawn returned it, then left to go find someone to move his personal effect to the commander's quarters of the _Supremacy_.

-.-.-

Thrawn waited until Hux had left and the doors had closed before speaking to the seemingly empty room. "Well, Myn, what do you think?"

A previously hidden door opened, and Myn Caul came out of his office. "I think he's going to be trouble for you, sir."

"Mmmm. Most certainly so. He's not accustomed to defeat, let alone a string of blows like the last week has been, though, so he's off balance. Now is the time to give him a push in the right direction, to guide him to a new equilibrium, wouldn't you say?"

Myn's smile could only be described as predatory. "Indeed, sir. What should I do with him?"

"Keep a close eye on him, if you would be so kind. He will be looking for a replacement for Opan. Make sure you find someone who will be... mutually beneficial."

"Noted. Anything else?"

"Phasma?"

"Alive, but in bad shape. SAR teams found her in the wreckage of a ruined hangar bay aboard the _Supremacy_. She's in medical here."

"Good. As much as I dislike her only loyalties being to herself, she is at least reliable in that, so we can also make use of her. See to it that she recovers. Also... who is the surviving member of the fireteam from FN Corps that had the deserter?"

"Uhm..." Myn scrolled through data on his pad for a moment. "Deserter was FN-2187. 2003 was KIA on Jakku, 2199 was KIA on Takodana. Surviving member is FN-2000. Just checked into medical here, actually. Mild radiation poisoning from dragging several wounded officers out of a breached engineering space, according to reports."

"Good. Assign him as Phasma's adjutant and aide."

"Sir. Anything else?"

"No, Myn. Thank you. I'll call if I need anything."

Myn saluted quickly and departed out the main door.

Thrawn waited for the door to close again before calling up a hologram of the _Falcon_ and her current crew. "So... where have you gone?"

-.-.-


	3. Chapter 2: (Super)Luminous Beings We Are

Chapter 2: (Super)Luminous Beings, We Are

 _Aboard the Millenium Falcon_

 _4 hours after the events of The Last Jedi_

Poe Dameron was loathe to admit it, but he was feeling claustrophobic in the crowded interior of the _Falcon_. As a fighter pilot, Poe was used to being in a cramped cockpit, but that was with no one else in it with him. Even BB-8, his loyal partner in combat, was in a socket behind him on the outside of the fighter. Having more than 20 survivors from Crait stuffed into the _Falcon_ was making him nervous. Finn was asleep on the floor next to Rose, who was still unconcious after the disasterous attempt to destroy the battering ram cannon. The General was in the only private space aboard the Falcon, her and Han's quarters in the aft port quarter of the ship, hopefully sleeping. BB-8 was in power-saving mode and hooked up the ship's power grid for a much needed charging. Even the little birds that had taken up residence in the wiring trunks of the forward cargo hold were sleeping. _Okay, fine, I admit it... I'm bored, too_. Poe sighed and began to wander around the _Falcon_ 's compact interior. As he walked, he ran his hand along the walls of the corridor, awed by the fact that he was aboard one of the most famous starships in the galaxy. Eventually, he came across the turret access ladders. Having nothing better to do at the moment, he clambered up to the dorsal turret and settled into the gunner's seat, watching the surreal lighting of hyperspace stream past the viewport. Soothed by the eerie blue swirl of the twisted space just beyond the transparisteel before him, Poe began to drift off to sleep.

-.-.-

Poe jolted awake as someone tapped him on the shoulder. "GYAH! Whaa?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Poe relaxed as Rey settled down next to the tunnel exit, watching the swirl of hyperspace outside. "What are you doing up? Pretty much everyone else is sleeping right now."

"When was the last time they got sleep, though? Or you, for that matter?"

Poe sagged in the gunner's seat. "It's... been a while. The last few days have been... hectic."

"So I heard." Rey's face was devoid of readable emotion.

"Y'know... there's got to be more comfortable spots than that spot, Rey. I mean, doesn't the gravity plating shift right about there?"

Rey shrugged. "I've felt worse. The wrecks on Jakku could have some extremely strange gravitational anomalies in them. Broken repulsor generators, acceleration compensators firing on static discharges, rogue gravity plating..."

Poe shook his head in amazement. "I can't imagine living in that."

"Oh, no, no one lived in the wrecks of the Graveyard. Too dangerous."

"So, you lived in Neema Outpost?"

Rey snorted in dismay. "Please. Like I'd willingly spend any more time around Unkar Plott than I had to."

"So... where did you live?"

Rey smiled slightly as she remembered. "A toppled AT-AT. It wasn't much... but it was mine. Protected me from the storms and raiders, allowed me to secure some personal stuff..."

"Would you ever go back there? Y'know, to get some of your stuff?"

"No... It's probably all gone now. There's no space for kindness out there, Poe. No mercy, no pity... Just survival."

Poe nodded slowly. "Well, you don't have to worry about that now, do you?"

"Not as much, no. Be-" Rey was cut short as a quiet two-tone alarm started to sound in the turret.

"What's that?"

"A timer. Come on, I'd like a hand in the cockpit." Rey nimbly rolled into the tunnel and scampered down the ladder with a grace Poe knew he could never match.

"Showoff."

Rey laughed as she waited for Poe. "No, that would be me leaping with the Force to help me."

"Okay, point." Poe followed Rey into the cockpit of the _Falcon_. "So, what'd you need my help with?"

Rey settled into the pilot's seat. "We're going to perform a blind reversion to realspace in the void between star systems. It should throw the First Order off our trail."

Poe sat in the copilot's seat before giving Rey a skeptical look. "You sure? They tracked us through hyperspace once before."

"Yes, but it's not active tracking. Finn said it was more of a brute-force calculated prediction, so if we do something unexpected..."

"Like a blind reversion well before our destination?"

"Yes. It'll leave them with no idea where we are."

"Sounds good. What do you need me to do right now?"

"Hang on... I'm going to pull us out of hyperspace. Once we do, start the navicomouter on getting a location fix."

"Got it."

Rey closed her eyes and reached over to the hyperdive motivator levers. She waited for several seconds before slamming them forward, abruptly yanking the _Falcon_ back to realspace. "Okay, now we need to find out where we are."

Poe input a few commands into the navicomputer, which began looking for several well-known pulsars and variable stars nearby. "Working on that. I guess now we need to figure out where to go next?"

"Another short jump to nowhere. Then we go somewhere that we can get some help."

The navicomputer chimed, indicating it had a location fix. Poe pulled up the list of nearby star systems with habitable planets. "Okay, so... where to point the ship next?"

Rey leaned over and looked through the list. "Thyferra? What's there?"

"Bacta production. That'd be a good decoy destination, actually. Shall we?"

"I don't see why not." Rey throttled up the _Falcon_ 's engines and began to swing the ship to roughly the correct direction.

Poe input the destination, and the navicomputer ran for a few seconds before balking at the information. "Oh, come on! It doesn't like working on outdated information."

"Override it. We're not actually going to Thyferra, so it shouldn't matter."

"Override the navicomputer?"

"This is a smuggler's ship. I'm sure there's an override on such safeties. After all, this ship _did_ make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs."

Poe input the override, and to his amazement, it actually worked. "Wait... 12 parsecs? That can't be right. I've done that run in simulators and the shortest I ever pulled was-"

"14?"

"Yes. So, either Solo was lying, or he was suicidally stupid and ducked through the Maw."

"I asked Chewbacca about it... Han was crazy and ducked through a gap in the Maw that's only passable at speeds above 0.6 past lightspeed."

"Sithspit, that _is_ crazy." Poe turned back to the navicomputer as it chimed to announce a solution. "Okay, hyperdrive is spooling, navicomp is loaded... Ready?"

"Ready." Rey reached for the hyperdrive motivator controls and smoothly slid them aft, and the _Falcon_ once again disappeared into hyperspace.

-.-.-

Safely back in hyperspace, Rey and Poe had left the cockpit of the _Falcon_ and headed back to the common area. Sprawled out on any flat surface, cushioned or otherwise, were the remains of the Resistance: A few Lieutenants, a smattering of enlisted techs and troopers, three droids, and one thoroughly exhausted former stormtrooper. Rey smiled at the sight of Finn sound asleep, jacket rolled up beneath his head as a pillow. "Well, some Resistance we are."

Poe shrugged. "Eh. There's more of us scattered about. Side missions, additional evac points, stuff like that. Besides, once word gets out that Starkiller Base was destroyed, I think more systems will flock to the cause." He grabbed a pair of ration packs from a nearby storage crate and tossed one to Rey. "But, we need to link up with the comm nets first. Can't do that in hyperspace." He started down the corridor towards the turret access shaft. "Besides, we've got a Jedi on our side. Hard to go wrong with that."

Rey followed Poe up the ladder and returned to her perch at the mouth of the shaft. "I'm hardly a Jedi, Poe."

"The hell you aren't. I saw you move that rubble pile aside like it was nothing." Poe tore the ration pack open and sighed. "Ugh. Buckwheat noodles and nerf nuggets. I've had that three times in the last two weeks."

Rey reached over and gleefully snagged Poe's ration pack. "Trade ya."

Poe eyed the contents of his new package of rations. "Self-hydrating Nuna Gumbo? Huh. Never had this one before. You?"

"Yes, but that one probably tastes better than the one I had." Rey scooped out a serving of noodles and gleefully consumed them. "Mmmm. Much better than anything I ever had on Jakku."

Poe stared at Rey for a moment, completely ignoring his own meal. "Good grief, Rey. What did you eat on Jakku that makes survival rations from ten years ago taste so good?"

"How do Rebellion-era rations sound?"

"Nasty."

Rey laughed. "You're not too far off, but they were all we had."

"So, these rations must seem like fine cuisine to you?"

"I wouldn't go that far... but yes, they're fantastic."

Poe chuckled. "Wait until you get fresh food from a major planet. It'll probably make you pass out."

Rey paused, mouth open. "Why? You think I couldn't handle it?"

"No, it's just... It'd probably be an enlightening experience."

"I'm sure it would be... but that's something we'll have to deal with later."

Poe shrugged and yawned. "Gah. No time to be tired right now."

"Poe... we're still several hours from even considering planetfall. Get some sleep."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"When was the last time you slept? And don't count the fifteen minutes or so you spent stunned."

Poe's extended silence was answer enough for Rey. "Right, I have a hammock in the engineering spaces you can use. Go get some rack time, Poe... you're no help to anyone when you're tired."

"I'm not tired. Gimme a 15 minute nap and I'll be good for a while."

Rey smiled and nodded. "Sure. Go take a nap. I'll wake you if I need you."

"Or in 15 minutes. Whichever comes-"

"Last. Poe, I think you'll be surprised at just how tired you are. You look like you haven't slept in two days, to be completely honest."

Poe set aside the ration pack and rubbed his face . "I've done worse."

"So have I. But, given the circumstances, you should get some sleep now, while we're not busy."

"But-"

"Hush. We're safely in hyperspace, and if I need extra help, I can always rouse BB-8 or Artoo."

"Rey-"

"Go. I'll take care of things for a bit. You take care of yourself."

Poe sighed and relented. "Fine. Engineering, you said?"

Rey again smoothly rolled into the ladder shaft. "Yes. It's not right next to the hyperdrive motivator... but it's close. Chewie and I don't particularly trust it right now, so I wanted to be close by if I was asleep and it failed."

Poe clambered down the ladder after Rey. "Wait… we're riding in a ship with a possibly faulty hyperdrive?"

"Only if we push it past 1.5 past lightspeed. We're tooling along at about 2.3 right now."

"Isn't this ship capable of more than that?"

"When properly maintained, yes, the _Falcon_ can make it to 0.5. Right now, if we were to try that, we'd smear ourselves into a plasma streak across several lightyears." Rey slapped the door release to the engineering bay and walked in.

Poe followed her, spotting the hammock near a large mass of machinery that he now realized was the _Falcon_ 's oversized hyperdrive motivator. "Well, good thing we're not in a hurry, then?"

"Yes. I am rather fond of remaining alive, thank you very much." Rey chuckled as she eyed the hyperdrive. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Chewie and I will be working on it next time we make planetfall."

"Any ideas where we'll be doing that?" Poe eased into the hammock, rolled his jacket up, and tucked it under his head as a crude pillow. "Or when?"

"We'll find someplace, Poe. Don't worry." Rey patted Poe on the shoulder and made an odd gesture.

Moments later, the lights in the bay dimmed, and Poe realized that Rey had just used the Force to reach across the compartment and toggle the controls. "Okay, now you're being a showoff."

Rey smiled, winked at Poe, and walked out of the bay. "Get some rest, Poe. I'll wake you if I need you."

Poe watched the doors close, then lay in the hammock, listening to the now-familiar purr of the hyperdrive pushing the _Falcon_ along at superluminal speeds.

Within seconds, he was soundly asleep.

-.-.-

Finn woke slowly, almost luxuriously, for the first time in weeks. _I'm not waking up in a place I don't recognize, or in imminent danger. I could get used to this._ He glanced up at the biomonitor watching Rose's vitals and saw that they were active, even if he wasn't quite sure what they all meant. Another glance around showed the remains of the Resistance dozing wherever there was space. Slowly and quietly, he eased himself upright, then snuck out of the common area and headed to the cockpit. As he had expected, Rey was there, sitting in the pilot's seat, eyes closed and meditating. He settled into one of the jump seats and waited for Rey to come out of her meditation.

To his surprise, Rey responded almost immediately. "Hello, Finn."

"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you." Finn started to get out of his seat.

Rey opened her eyes and reached out a hand to halt Finn. "No, stay. You didn't disturb me."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I was just about done anyways." Rey turned her seat to face Finn. "You look much better now that you've rested."

"Part of that is just waking up in a safe place for the first time in weeks."

"I suppose that would be helpful."

"Yeah. So, what were you meditating over?"

"Nothing in particular... just feeling out the differences in the Force. It feels... different... here in hyperspace than it does in realspace."

"How so?"

"I... don't know if I can explain it. It's just... different"

"Is it a subtle difference, or kind of a 'black and white' difference?"

"Oh, subtle, to be sure. But... the Force isn't black and white, either. Just like anything in life."

Finn frowned. "I always thought that there was two sides to the Force."

Rey leaned back in her chair. "That's something I thought, too... Master Skywalker showed me differently. It's not what powers you use or which side of the Force you draw on... it's _why_ you use them that matters."

Finn nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Something's bothering you, Finn. I don't need the Force to tell me that."

Fin looked at the floor of the cockpit. "I dunno. I just... I guess I was used to seeing the universe in black and white, good and evil. Turns out that, as you said, life isn't that way. There's shades of gray... and I'm not sure where I fall in that." He looked up at Rey. "Am I a good person, Rey?"

"I don't think I can answer that, Finn. Not honestly."

"Why not?"

"In my, admittedly limited, experience, that's a question that only you can answer."

Finn's frowned at Rey's response. "I... I don't know. I've thought I was a good person before. Then I had my eyes opened and I changed sides, thinking that was the right thing. Now? I'm not sure what I am."

Rey sat quietly for several moments before replying. "You're not alone in that, Finn." She paused again before continuing with a faint smile. "But, for what it's worth... I think you're a good person."

Finn smiled back at Rey. "Thanks." He gestured out the window. "So, where are we going?"

"At present? Nowhere. We're on a blind jump to make pursuit as difficult as possible." Rey pondered for a moment, then reached forward to the controls and dropped the _Falcon_ out of hyperspace. "We should be good to pick a proper destination now, though."

"Any ideas as to where to go?"

Leia's voice came from the hatch into the cockpit. "Naboo."

Rey immediately began to plot the course, and Finn turned to face Leia. "Naboo? What's there?"

Leia smiled. "I have a long history with the people of Naboo. Longer than most people realize. I have allies there who can help us get back on our feet, even if they won't take part in the fight against the First Order themselves."

"Oh. What about your other allies, who weren't willing to respond to your call for assistance on Crait?"

Leia frowned. "I'm not sure. Part of what I want to do on Naboo is find out what happened."

The hatch slid open again, and a groggy Poe stumbled in. "Why are we out of hyperspace?" He noticed Leia and straightened up. "General."

"Captain. We're about to head out to Naboo."

"Right. Rey, need a copilot?"

Rey simply gave a knowing smile and gestured to the copilot's seat. Poe sat down and rubbed his hands together. "Okay, what can I do?"

"Same deal as earlier... but without the override."

"Got it. Course... set, drives spooling."

Rey followed the cue on the displays and lined the _Falcon_ up on the proper vector to Naboo. "Punch it."

Poe slid the motivator handles aft, and they disappeared back into hyperspace again.


End file.
